The 25th running of the Big West Challenge – featuring Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and host Long Beach State – is the marquee meet on this week's track and field schedule.

BIG WEST AT A GLANCE

Big West Challenge Highlights Track and Field Schedule: The 25th annual Big West Challenge takes place Friday at Long Beach State’s Jack Rose Track. The four participating schools include Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and the host Beach. The LBSU men’s team has dominated the meet in the last decade with nine straight victories. The Beach women’s squad is seeking its third win in four years after placing second last season. UC Santa Barbara won the women’s competition in 2016.

A Glance At The Schedule: Besides the Big West Challenge, Cal Poly, UC Davis and UC Riverside also are fielding contingents at various meets. The Mustangs will send decathletes and heptathles to the Sam Adams Multi-Events Invitational in Montecito. The Aggies will be competing in the state of Arizona at the Mesa Classic and Sun Angel Classic, while the Highlanders are sending representatives to UCLA for the second straight week – this time for the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational.

Bilo Nearly Breaks School, Conference Records In 5000: Cal Poly sophomore Peyton Bilo nearly broke two records with an impressive 5,000-meter performance last Friday at the Stanford Invitational. She finished in seventh place in a stacked field, with a performance of 15:52.01. The mark nearly broke a school record which has stood for 34 years, coming up just 1.37 seconds shy of Amy Harper’s 15:50.64 set at the Cal Nike Invitational on March 26, 1983. Bilo, who obliterated her previous personal best of 16:13.55, established at the same meet a year ago, also flirted with the Big West record in the event. Bilo came in just under three seconds short of the 15:49.05 performance in 2013 by Alycia Cridebring of UC Davis.

William-Mensah Topples Own School Record in 100: UC Irvine junior Persis William-Mensah shined the Mondo Team Challenge in Sacramento last Saturday in the 100-meters. She clocked in at 11.57 seconds to win the event and improve upon her previous record of 11.59, which she set at the 2016 Big West Championships.

Applequist Posts Top-20 National Mark In Triple Jump: Cal State Fullerton junior Anthony Applequist won the triple jump at last weekend’s UCLA Legends Invitational with his best mark of the season, a leap of 51-02.75. That mark places him No. 18 in the NCAA this season.

Calhoun Records Top High Jump Mark In Big West: With a season-best mark of 7-00.50 in the high jump at last week’s Texas Relays, Long Beach State junior Vincent Calhoun broke into the top-15 in the country. He sits right at No. 15 with that performance.

Big West Track & Field Championship Comes To Cal State Fullerton: Cal State Fullerton will host the Big West Track and Field Championships for the first time since 1999. The Titan Track Complex will be home to the multi-events portion of the meet (May 5-6) and the full portion (May 12-13).